Daily Times

The name of emperor ‘Nosherwan the Just’ (Nosherwan Adil) appears prominently in the books of history. It is said – and widely believed – that the system of justice was so failsafe and effective during his reign that ‘a lion as well as a lamb would drink water from the same pond’.

Annals of history don’t engage in blame games or lame excuses the like of which we usually witness among our ruling elite who put the blame on their political rivals or the legacy of ‘Khaali Khazana ‘ (empty coffers) etc etc to cover up their own follies and foibles.

History- and thus historians-always say that it so happened during the rule of such and such emperor (replace emperor with presidents and prime ministers of the present times).

Using this analogy for the ‘Qalam Mazdoors’ or ‘Labourers of pen’, impartial, honest historians would simply write that thousands of media workers went down the poverty line during the reign of Prime Minister Imran Khan as they were either laid off or deprived of their due salaries despite their endless work. Yes, endless! Because a vast majority of journalists work day and night with no fixed time schedules: they are always on the run or on their toes like foot soldiers.

Unfortunately, these foot soldiers (of media, of course) have been turned into a forsaken lot as a policy matter though excuses of obsolescence of ‘ Rawaiti ‘ (traditional) media were given time and again by the incumbent top notches including Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry. Chaudhry rather came up with a strange suggestion, advising journalists, posing as their sincere well-wisher, to bid goodbye to the redundant profession journalism as if he were advising them to switch to other professions (besides offering them opportunities). This suggestion is just a slavish imitation of a suggestion once given by a government mogul to eat biscuits if roti was out of reach.

Perhaps the World Press Freedom Day has motivated these gentlemen to say soothing things about this class of workers whose majority is in a state of utter haplessness

Thank God that some realization has now come in the higher echelons as gathered from the ‘damage control’ statements of information ministers at the Centre and in the biggest province of Punjab, Shibli Faraz and Fayyaz Chohan, respectively.

Perhaps the World Press Freedom Day has motivated these gentlemen to say soothing things about this class of workers whose majority is in a state of utter haplessness. Or, conversely, it is the resilience of media and its workforce that has compelled the government to give some ‘recognition’ to media. So far so good, though the damage done is far more damaging because the damage-control measures are being taken quite belatedly. Thousands of media workers were rendered jobless, months ago. And they just can’t even think of switching over to other professions.

Perhaps very few people or, plainly speaking, political leaders of the present governing lot, know as to how many tonnes of energy is spent up or consumed on an average basis, by a professional journalist as compared with people from other professions.

As for the statement of Fayyaz Chohan that the government of the day considers media as fourth pillar of the state, I think the minister had the three (add fourth to it in the present context) estates of Middle Ages back in his subconscious.

In France’s Ancien Regime in particular, there were three estates comprising clergy on the top, followed by nobility and then the commoners at the bottom. But, in our case, Fourth Pillar people were, at times, treated somewhat like Fourth Schedulers.

Thanks to the changed realities that change of heart is now discernible in the overall conduct of governmental quarters. So, even the track record of these circles smacks of media weariness, I am ready to give them a benefit of doubt also because I have experienced cool and calculating media handling, directly for years, at the hands of the newly appointed SAPM Information Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa.

Whatever reason some people may like to assign to his appointment simultaneously with the appointment of a full-time, full-fledged Information Minister, I have never seen General Asim Bajwa underestimating or undermining the journalists’ acumen, sharpness and outreach.

And, the general perception may not be wrong that he is there to ‘guide’ (read ‘moderate’) those steering the boat of Information.

I still believe that whatever the pitfalls coming in the way of the journey of media, the latter, I mean, the media has somehow been able to develop ‘group immunity’ towards machinations of sorts.

The writer is a senior journalist and TV analyst